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Crazy Christians think they are persecuted

Persecution of Christians on rise ‚Äď in U.S.

'It is dramatic, I have never seen levels of attacks like these'

A report by two U.S.-based religious freedom groups says anti-Christian persecution is on the rise in America.

The joint report by Texas-based Liberty Institute and Washington-based Family Research Council says groups like the American Civil Liberties Union aren‚Äôt the only culprits. The report says government agencies around the U.S. are trying to push Christian expression out the door.

‚ÄúIt is dramatic,‚ÄĚ says Liberty Institute Founder Kelly Shackleford, of the recent hike in reported incidents of persecution. ‚ÄúI have been doing these types of cases for almost 25 years now. I have never seen the levels of attacks like these and how quickly they are now proliferating.‚ÄĚ

Shackleford says government, from schools to social programs, is the ringleader.

‚ÄúThere are children being prohibited from writing Merry Christmas to the soldiers, senior citizens being banned from praying over their meals in the Senior Center, the VA banning the mention of God in military funerals, numerous attempts to have veterans memorials torn down if they have any religious symbols such as a cross, and I could go on and on,‚ÄĚ Shackleford said.

WND reported in August 2011 on the Houston, Texas, veterans‚Äô cemetery director who issued an order banning God from military or veteran funerals at the facility.

A pastor and family members of deceased veterans eventually filed a federal lawsuit alleging that the Houston National VA Cemetery is discriminating against their religious freedoms.

The suit alleges that cemetery administrator Arleen Ocasio required pastor Scott Rainey to edit a Memorial Day prayer so that the prayer was ‚Äúgeneral, and its fundamental purpose [was] nondenominational in nature.‚ÄĚ

Christian civil rights organization ACLJ senior counsel David French says the exact rate of increase is hard to determine, but many of the new cases come from colleges.

‚ÄúOur knowledge of incidents is only as good as the reporting,‚ÄĚ French says. ‚ÄúHowever, it‚Äôs clear that ‚Äď particularly on college and university campuses ‚Äď we have seen a significant rise in attempts to silence Christian organizations by the misapplication of nondiscrimination laws.‚ÄĚ

French adds that many public facilities are also covering over Christianity.

‚ÄúOne of the most strident examples: the misuse of the Establishment Clause to attempt to ban any mention of God from historical markers, monuments or even museum exhibits,‚ÄĚ French says. ‚ÄúThis represents an effort to whitewash God from American history and change our national identity.‚ÄĚ

WND reported in February that the city of New York was attempting to cancel the leases of all church and religious groups renting city facilities.

‚ÄúOur view is that public school buildings, which are funded by taxpayers‚Äô dollars, should not be used as houses of worship,‚ÄĚ said Marge Feinberg, spokeswoman for New York City‚Äôs Department of Education. ‚ÄúPublic school space cannot and should not be used for worship services, especially because school space is not equally available to all faiths.‚ÄĚ

Shackleford says the attacks are becoming violent, too.

‚ÄúThe recent attacks on the faith-based Family Research Council and the attack on the Sikhs are recent examples alone,‚ÄĚ Shackleford says.

He also cites an example of a city trying to push out its Jewish residents.

‚ÄúIn one case I was involved in, a city literally tried to zone out Orthodox Jews from the city. An official city meeting perpetrated this,‚ÄĚ Shackleford says. ‚ÄúSome said, ‚ÄėHitler should have finished the job.‚Äô‚ÄĚ

Shackleford claims the acts of persecution point to a deeply rooted spiritual issue.

‚ÄúReligious hostility is the red light on the dashboard that tells us we have a problem and that violence will come next if not fixed,‚ÄĚ Shackleford says.

French says although the Obama administration has contributed to the problem, the problem didn‚Äôt begin in 2008.

‚ÄúWhile the Obama administration launched its own unprecedented assault on religious liberty through Obamacare,‚ÄĚ French says, ‚Äúthe attack on Christian expression is the result of cultural changes that have been taking place for decades.‚ÄĚ

Shackleford agrees.

‚ÄúThe Obama administration has been very hostile, from the HHS mandates to the VA case to many, many more; but it has been getting worse and worse each administration,‚ÄĚ Shackleford says. ‚ÄúGovernment always tries to increase its power, and freedom has been fading in the process. It has been a steady and consistent.‚ÄĚ

French says the current crisis has been brewing for decades.

‚ÄúNo, the trend began with advent of the sexual revolution and the mainstreaming of the 1960s counterculture,‚ÄĚ French claims. ‚ÄúAs leftist radicals have progressed through the academy, media, churches and government, the trend has only accelerated.‚ÄĚ

Shackleford adds that some key court cases may have accelerated the trend.

‚ÄúThe seeds for these attacks were dropped in a Supreme Court opinions in the ‚Äô40s, and it really began to take off in the 1960s. The thing that is shocking now, and different, is that the attacks have dramatically picked up speed,‚ÄĚ Shackleford says. ‚ÄúThere can be as many as 100 new attacks in a month. While Liberty Institute has the highest win rate of any group in the country at over 99 percent, we just can‚Äôt currently cover all these with our current resources.‚ÄĚ

Among the violations listed in the joint report:

A federal judge threatened ‚Äúincarceration‚ÄĚ to a high school valedictorian unless she removed references to Jesus from her graduation speech.

City officials prohibited senior citizens from praying over their meals, listening to religious messages or singing gospel songs at a senior activities center.

A public school official physically lifted an elementary school student from his seat and reprimanded him in front of his classmates for praying over his lunch.

Following U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs‚Äô policies, a federal government official sought to censor a pastor‚Äôs prayer, eliminating references to Jesus, during a Memorial Day ceremony honoring veterans at a national cemetery.

Public school officials prohibited students from handing out gifts because they contained religious messages.

A public school official prevented a student from handing out flyers inviting her classmates to an event at her church.

A public university‚Äôs law school banned a Christian organization because it required its officers to adhere to a statement of faith that the university disagreed with.

The U.S. Department of Justice argued before the Supreme Court that the federal government can tell churches and synagogues which pastors and rabbis it can hire and fire.

The State of Texas sought to approve and regulate what religious seminaries can teach.

Through the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare, the federal government is forcing religious organizations to provide insurance for birth control and abortion-inducing drugs in direct violation of their religious beliefs.

The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs banned the mention of God from veterans‚Äô funerals, overriding the wishes of the deceased‚Äôs families.

A federal judge held that prayers before a state House of Representatives could be to Allah but not to Jesus.

A study by the Liberty Institute and Family Research Council? Oh yeah, no bias there. No sirreee. These two extreme Christian groups have managed to stay completely neutral for this particular study. mmmhmmmm, like, for sure.

Look for yourself!

http://www.frc.org/ thinks it's important to "stand wit Scouts" and keep out those icky gay kids. (but it's the poor Christians being discriminated against - remember that!)

http://www.libertyinstitute.org/is fighting to promote public religious displays, religious speeches in schools and the workplace, and (I looked at their cases, and funnily enough "religious" seems to mean Christian)

Absolutely no chance at all that either of these institutions would be at all biased. No way, no how!

These two organizations need to "look in their mirrors"...they persecute people all the time. The Family Research Council is prejudiced.They only approve of conservative white Christians and do their best to undermine all others of different races, religions and sexual identities.

The above "List" of "attacks" on Christianity looks familiar---like issues that Snopes has proven are mainly false and exaggerations.

They are whining. They are still in charge in the USA and they have more power than religious groups should have in the government. There is separation of church and state but they ignore that fact.

Sorry but you are imagining that history books taught that America is a Christian nation....unless you wer homeschooled and your Mom used Christian history books, Talk about being biased and believing in fairy tales. In the USA there are many different religions and to say theirs don't count because it is a "christian nation" is unfair and prejudicial.Even some of the "founding fathers" were Deists and had other beliefs.They never designated a national religion.

Quoting toomanypoodles:

Quoting punky3175:

No it wasn't a Christian nation.

Quoting mamalynnsmith:

this was a Christian nation . we Christian's need to stand up and stand together and fight. we need to fight for our Christian rights just like these other groups .

Show me some evidence to back your claim, please. The history books I grew up with sure taught that.

From one Christian to the others: Maybe if our fingers weren't so tangled up in trying to pass laws and legislation according to Bibilical Law, we wouldn't feel the snapping and so-called persecution biting back against us. Religion is personal and shouldn't be forced on anyone against their will.

Sorry but you are imagining that history books taught that America is a Christian nation....unless you wer homeschooled and your Mom used Christian history books, Talk about being biased and believing in fairy tales. In the USA there are many different religions and to say theirs don't count because it is a "christian nation" is unfair and prejudicial.Even some of the "founding fathers" were Deists and had other beliefs.They never designated a national religion.

Quoting toomanypoodles:

Quoting punky3175:

No it wasn't a Christian nation.

Quoting mamalynnsmith:

this was a Christian nation . we Christian's need to stand up and stand together and fight. we need to fight for our Christian rights just like these other groups .

Show me some evidence to back your claim, please. The history books I grew up with sure taught that.

Persecution doesn't mean being required to have a non denominational prayer at a ceremony to honor vets. These supposed acts are not even true in the first place. Really the house of reps outlawed a Christian prayer and said they had to use the Arabic word for God? I call bs.
And WND writing an article supporting the allegations of the frc is the height of unreliable.

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